A dramatic new video has captured the Great Barrier Reef suffering mass bleaching for an unprecedented second year in a row.

Bleaching happens when rising sea temperatures kills off the algae coral depends on, causing it to turn white as it gets “stressed” and eventually starves.

The shocking clip shows how the typically multicolored reef has turned white.

The Great Barrier Reef has now been hit by four mass bleaching events: 1998, 2002, 2016 and 2017.

Last year’s event was the worst on record, killing an estimated 22 per cent of all coral, with damage most severe in the remote far north.

This time, well known tourism locations, further to the south, from Port Douglas down to Townsville are being impacted. The situation is still evolving but coral mortality could potentially be even higher than last year.

John Tanzer, Oceans Practice Leader, WWF International said: “What is unfolding before our very eyes is the starkest evidence that climate change is already wreaking havoc on the ocean. Coral reefs are a beloved natural wonder but less appreciated is that they also directly support the jobs, livelihoods and food supplies of many millions of people.
“What will happen to these people as large areas of coral die?”

2016’s bleaching event killed an estimated 22 percent of all the reef’s coral.WWF-Aus and BioPixel

“Mass coral mortality is fast becoming a humanitarian and economic concern, and will soon be elevated to a crisis if reefs die alongside densely-populated coastlines and islands. This issue is moving onto the core agenda for many leaders around the world, particularly those whose people’s lives depend on healthy reefs.”

The Great Barrier Reef stretches across more than 1,200 miles of Australia’s eastern coast.NASA

“The solutions are clear: we need a major lift in action to bring down carbon emissions and scaled-up effort to reduce the local pressures on reefs so they have maximum chance of withstanding the onslaught of climate change.”

WWF-Australia Head of Oceans, Richard Leck, added: “Scientists warned that without sufficient emissions reductions we could expect annual mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef by 2050. Consecutive bleaching events have arrived 30 years early. We must address the climate crisis– fueled by the burning of fossil fuels – that is driving coral bleaching.”